Sir Tom Jones has taken a swipe at some talent show judges, saying they are not in a position to judge when they have never sung live on stage themselves.

The 71-year-old Welsh crooner, a panellist on BBC One's new music talent show The Voice, revealed he did not sign up until he knew his fellow judges were musicians too.

Sir Tom said he had never wanted to do talent shows like The X Factor and American Idol because not all the judges could sing themselves.

The star said: "I watched other talent shows and I thought: Now hang on a minute. How can this person, not mentioning any names, but how can he or she give singers advice if they've never gone through it themselves?

"I think you have to have stood up on that stage and gone for auditions, and be able to take the: You were great but no thank you.

"You have to be able to take that. And you have to have experienced that to be able to do it."